We become what we worship… morning reflections on Psalm 134 and Isaiah

Since coming to St. Mary’s in Chinatown, I’ve been engaging in something of a bi-ritual existence… paying attention to the two forms (Extraordinary Form in Latin and Ordinary Form in vernacular) of expressing the one Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.It’s been an interesting challenge studying two sets of readings and prayers, sometimes multiple saints, each day… but it’s been enriching, as I hope my morning meditation will show…

Praying this morning from the EF breviary, I was struck by this line from Psalm 134:

“Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea: et omnes qui confidunt in eis.”

Who make idols will become like them, and likewise those who place trust in them.

Words of wisdom, to be sure.Put another way, “You are what you worship.” And if the thing you worship is a blind, deaf, dumb, inanimate thing, then that’s what you’ll begin to resemble.We can extend the idea beyond the classical motif of the static graven image: Who worships greed, will become greedy.Who worships anger and hate will be an angry hate-filled person.We might even draw connection to another bit of Biblical wisdom, “Who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” (Mt. 26:52)

When man becomes a “technologist” when he builds things out of self-reference and self-reverence, those things will be limited by the bounds of his own mortality.If he becomes so self-impressed that he effectively worships these things then – in an ironic twist of fate – they become his God and the created controls the creator.It’s the oldest sin: the desire and attempt to “be like gods.” (cf Gen. 3:5)

Better to be an artist… to perceive and appreciate something much larger than us and to participate in it, in something immortal.If we worship that then rather than being limited by our own mortal bounds, we become liberated by the infinite Being of the divine.You are what you worship.This better path, this humbler artist’s way is summed up in the laudes antiphon for Ps. 134,

“Laudate nomen Domini, qui statis in domo Domini.”

Praise the name of the Lord all who stand in the Lord’s house.

It’s appropriate to note that the Lord’s name – particularly his Holy Name as revealed to Moses (Ex. 3:14) – is the only name in the world not generated by man.Everything else it was our privilege to name, but God’s name is not of our making, nor is his house.

In today’s OF Reading for Mass (Is. 7:1-9), Isaiah warns that even as the northern kingdom (Israel/Ephraim) gathers allies for an assault on the southern kingdom (Judah/House of David), they are spelling their own doom because their obedience to pagan practice is now complete.They have literally bowed to the outside [false] gods of Syria, preparing the way for the Babylonian exile.Judah would not fare much better in the end, but they would ultimately be brought back to rebuild and renew true worship of the One True God… to praise the Name of the Lord in his house.

St. John Paul II wrote and preached frequently on these topics throughout his ministry.Under Soviet domination, he could see the deadly effects of an atheist regime that [practically] worshipped human achievements only.He strenuously critiqued the development of nuclear weapons and other WMDs pointing out that they (man’s creation) had come to dominate their creators determining so much of how we live hope and fear.As the Soviet Union fell, his social encyclicals began to warn us of the dangers of capitalist triumphalism and the worship of the dollar… and haven’t we seen some of those warnings come true today.

More locally, consider: societies that effectively worship their phones become enslaved by them.Do you spend more time looking down, chained by your phone’s tiny screen, or do you spend more time looking up to limitless heaven?Do you know friends/colleagues whose absolute adherence to contraceptive culture has led to difficulty conceiving when they do want to start a family… or worse… has obedience to porn led to hollow relationships and ultimately loneliness?How many of us can truly say we feel free from the constraints of this world?

We become what we worship folks… take every chance you get today to liberate yourself from adoring the things of this world… you’ll find yourself happier and more fulfilled for the effort.